Friday, February 17, 2012

EURE ERBEN / DARKNESS - Guitarist Hobie In In-Depth Interview

EURE ERBEN / DARKNESS guitarist Hobie talked to Konstantin Chilikin about his musical background, the 'Terror 2.0' Double-CD, German vs. English lyrics and his Russian drinking habits. Please tell me how did it all start for you? How did you decide to be a guitarist? Was there any particular band or album which made you to make this decision? - When I was a child I just listened to the music my parents put on at home, which was usually Classical Music, Blues, Rock or Jazz. I still enjoy these styles of Music (especially Classical Music) but when I got hold of the Master of Reality album from Black Sabbath at about 13/14 years old, Heavy Metal became my favourite music. I also sold my acoustical guitar (which I couldn’t play very well anyway) to buy an electrical guitar and began to practise a lot. Can you say a few words about your childhood? Where you were born? Did you parents support your decision to play a guitar?- I was born in Victorville, a small town in California, but my parents moved to Germany almost right away, so I don’t have any childhood memories of living in the USA. My parents supported my decision to play the guitar. They’re both no fans of Heavy Metal, but they like music and my mother plays the Violin.Do you remember your very first band? What kind of music did you play at that time?- Yes I do, we named ourselves Invasion and tried to play Thrash. I don’t know if you should really call it a band though, the drummer was rarely playing with us and we only wrote some shitty vocals and guitar riffs, that we never performed live.Please tell me about your time with Erazor: how did you get to know them? how long did you play with them? did you contribute anything to their self-titled debut album which came out in 2010? why did you leave the band eventually?- Erazor had a rehearsal room in the same complex of buildings as Invasion and I know Fredi, the bass player (and at that time singer), from school. As I mentioned Invasion was not working out and Erazor needed a second guitarist, so I joined them and played with them from about 2006 to 2007. When the debut album was finally recorded I had quit Erazor for more than two years, but I wrote the music and lyrics of the two songs Demonic Slaughter and Creator of Destruction, which are both from around 2007. Erazor changed more to a Black and Death Metal influenced style of Thrash and also everything took forever, as you can guess by the time span between writing songs in 2006 and 2007 and recording them almost 3 years later.You mentioned that you play with Warhammer 2 and 1/2 shows but anyway - what can you say about this band and its mainman Kevin Wittek? Is it true that this band tries to rebuild the sound of Hellhammer using the same equipment which Hellhammer used to play? By the way, do you personally love Hellhammer?- Well, I personally really like the concept of Warhammer, because I’m a big fan of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. And yes, they try to bring to life a Hellhammer atmosphere, not really through the equipment, but more by the way the songs are composed and so on. Kevin Wittek isn’t the mainman of Warhammer though. He’s the guitarist and also plays in Iron Kobra. Volker Frerich, the singer, is Warhammer’s mainman I would say. He’s a real die hard fan of Hellhammer and also a very cool guy, like the rest of Warhammer.Now let’s talk about Eure Erben. In our interview Arnd said that you came up to their show and said: “I heard you’re looking for a guitar player. It’s me!” Why did you decide to join them? Are you a fan of Darkness? If yes, what makes this band so special for you? When did you hear this band for the first time?- I listened to Darkness the first time around 2004, when I heard they were playing again under the name Eure Erben. I really liked that style of fast Thrash Metal and saw them live in 2005. Fredi from Erazor had contact with Arnd at that time, so I also met the band and got to know them a bit. Later when I was playing with Erazor we played shows together with Eure Erben. When I heard, that Jöter had quit Eure Erben I had just quit Erazor. As I was looking for a band and Eure Erben played Thrash that I loved, I decided to ask them if I can be the new guitar player. Luckily it worked out. :-)In your opinion, is it a right decision for the band to play under the moniker “Eure Erben”? Wouldn’t it better to use the name “Darkness”?- For me personally the name doesn’t matter, because the language of the vocals is the only real difference and I understand both. I for my part play the same riffs, no matter if Arnd or Emma sing in German or English (my luck, they have to memorize more stuff ;-) ). The problem with Eure Erben is, that less people know the name and less people understand German. I think the decision may not be the best concerning these two aspects, but for that reason we included the second CD to the Album with the English vocals.I guess “Terror 2.0” was your first studio experience. So what are your brightest memories about the recording process? In general, are you satisfied with the result or are there any moment which you’d like to do in other way? - Yes, it was basically my first real studio experience. I still have in mind the guy from the studio. He was a little odd and wanted us to put all kinds of effects like sirens and things that sound like roller coasters into the songs, which we didn’t do. The recording itself went very well and was finished quick. I’m not completely satisfied with the mix, but I guess it’s pretty normal with the first record, that it doesn’t sound exactly like you had it in mind.

Was it easy to work with three guys who are a bit older than you? Did they accept your ideas easily?- It’s not easy to work with any of us I think, ha ha ha. No just joking. The age didn’t make any difference. We treat all ideas equally and decide if we use them or not.Some tracks on “Terror 2.0” include more melodic stuff in the vein of traditional heavy metal. Who was responsible for these influences?- On Terror 2.0 I would say Arnd. Although we all love traditional Heavy Metal a lot, too! The ideas I contributed on Terror 2.0 were more Thrash stuff, but the new album will also have some more Heavy Metal stuff were working on together.You also contributed some very nice lyrics to this album. I’m especially interested in the story behind the song “Deus Lo Volt”. How did you get this idea? Do you like historical stuff about crusaders and so on?- Well, I have to disappoint you. I only did the English translation of Deus Lo Volt, Arnd and Emma wrote the original lyrics in German. So you have to ask him, what his exact influence was. I myself think the song is more about modern day events in the middle east.Can you comment on the lyrics for the song “Reach The Limits”? Do you think mankind hasn’t a chance to survive?- If governments and people continue the way they are doing it now I think mankind will have a lot of problems; the Earth and poorer population are being exploited by few. People will survive, but a what cost and how good will their life be then?Speaking about the lyrics, firstly they supposed to be only on German, but later the band decided to add English versions as well. I know it’s a king of a gift to your die-hard fans but wasn’t it hard to translate them and keep the same message? Are you satisfied with English translation? What versions – German or English – do you prefer?- Translating the songs, keeping the message and also the measure (or at least a similar one) was some work, but I think we did a good job. I’m satisfied with them. At first I preferred the German versions, simply because I was used to them. Now I would say I like both.What can you say about live shows with Eure Erben? Can you share some funny stories from the road?- Live shows are always great fun. I think we are a good team. As you can imagine the funniest stuff besides the shows happens when everybody is drunk or the morning after. While trying to figure out how our camcorder works Lacky tried to explain it like this: “Closed is off, open is closed.” Besides that singing old Manowar songs at the Serbian boarder control was a funny episode, that wasn’t to annoying for the driver I hope.I guess it’s hard to live off the music playing in such band like Eure Erben. Do you have a day job? - It’s not just hard, but impossible for anyone of us to live of Eure Erben, maybe this will change some day. I don’t have a Job, because I’m in school still.What can you say about the new stuff of Eure Erben? Did you start to work on it?- As I mentioned earlier we are working on new material. It’s going to be fast Thrash songs and some more Heavy Metal songs again. It will still be old school.What do you know about Russia outside cold winters, hot chicks, vodka and bears which walk right on the streets?- I actually have a bit of contact with Russian culture here, due to friends that come from Russia and other ex soviet countries. I like to read old Russian literature like Michail Bulgakov but am also a big fan of the modern day author Viktor Pelevin. To get to your question about Vodka: My Friends and I have adapted the habit of occasional “Sapoj” drinking (hard drinking) while listening to a mix of music containing stuff from Moussorgsky to Krasnaja Plesen. :-)Please say a few words for your Russian fans:- I hope I will have the opportunity to play in Russia for you one day and have lots of fun with you during and after the show! Cheers!

Konstantin Chiliki is the admin of the Eure Erben page on vk.com, the biggest European social network.

The Eure Erben / Darkness 'Terror 2.0' Double-CD (German and English lyrics) is available at the band's shop. Here's the official video clip for the track 'Terror Für Terror':